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A living wage is key to decency and justice in the workplace

Posted on May 17, 2017 at 04:20 PM

The first defeat suffered by this Government was in relation to the rights of those who work. Back in June of 2016, the Labour Party tabled a motion on this area, and got enough support from across the house to win Dáil approval for our policies.

Since then, the Government has shamefully ignored that motion, which called for the introduction of a living wage of €11.50 per hour throughout the public sector. And they seem to have ditched their own commitment to substantially increase the national minimum wage. To this useless Government, votes in the Dáil don’t matter. And neither do their own promises.

A good job requires a decent wage which allows a decent standard of living or better, without having to depend on State supports.

Labour oversaw increases in the minimum wage from €7.65 per hour in 2011 to €9.15 per hour in 2016 – putting €3,000 a year into the pocket of a person working full-time on the minimum wage. We reinstated Joint Labour Committees, registered employment agreements and the new concept of Sectoral Employment Orders, crucial mechanisms which help workers secure better pay and conditions and which will potentially benefit more than 200,000 people.

Our plan to ensure that the Government becomes a living wage employer, and to extend this requirement to those who provide services to it in onsite services such as security, cleaning and catering, will ensure that work pays, even for those on modest incomes.